Start With Hello Week
February 5-9, 2018 at PRAES
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At PRAES, we celebrated Start with Hello week with a variety of activities. Some 6th grade students made a poster for anyone to sign and leave positive messages for other to read. Mrs. Kouba and some 6th grade students made a Scavenger Hunt using QR codes. Students had to follow clues to find the word HELLO in a variety of languages, answer questions and discuss topics. Everyone had fun and learned a lot in the process! Lastly, on Friday, grades 3-6 celebrated No One Eats Alone Day at lunch.
What is No One Eats Alone?
No One Eats Alone is a lunchtime school event that seeks to reverse the trends of social isolation by asking students to engage in a simple act of kindness at lunch – making sure that no one is eating alone and students are making an effort to eat with new classmates and peers. 6th grade students and Mrs. Kouba used Starburst candies to group students at different tables. At each table, there were discussion questions for them to read. Videos and songs were playing on the TV in the commons area and some students won some fun door prizes.
Why do No One Eats Alone?
Because it will be the starting place for changing the culture of your school to one where all kids feel included, valued and accepted by their peers.
No One Eats Alone Day works because of three simple ideas:
- Students Can Improve Their Own Communities: No One Eats Alone allows students to make a tangible change in their own community by making sure that everyone is included at lunch.
- Inclusive Communities are H2er Communities: Inclusive school communities create happier and more successful students while also empowering youth to be agents of change.
- Stopping Social Isolation Helps to Stop Bullying: Social isolation is oftentimes the precursor for bullying. School communities with a culture of inclusion have far fewer instances of bullying.
What is social isolation?
Social isolation is the feeling of being left out, lonely, or invisible.
There are students in schools all over the world who quietly suffer from loneliness and isolation throughout each day. This feeling of loneliness is often highlighted at lunchtime, when kids are left to fend for themselves socially.
How are social isolation and bullying connected?
It is our experience that social isolation is often the precursor to bullying. School communities with a culture of inclusion will have far fewer instances of bullying and cruelty.
Why social isolation? Don’t schools have bigger problems like bullying and violence?
We believe that much of the bullying and violence in our schools can be addressed by treating the underlying causes, rather than just the symptoms.
Social isolation is a problem in every school. We have talked to over 10,000 students in dozens of schools and afterschool programs, and we have found the problem of social isolation to be universal. We also acknowledge the relationship between social isolation and bullying and violence. By reducing social isolation, we believe we can help end much bullying and violence.Aggie Vision Start With Hello
